By Antonio Rodón

Speaking at the workshop “The Path to Technological Independence, We Build Collaboration on the Basis of Reliable Russian Platforms, the president of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Carricarte, pointed out that both countries plan to start concrete projects in 2025.

The communications sector, especially information technology, is crucial for technological transformation, the foundation of national development, and Russia as a reliable partner to materialize projects in that field, he noted.

Sergei Valdin, trade representative of the Russian Embassy in Cuba, spoke in a video conference of specialists from both countries during which prospects for joint programs in tourism, technology and humanitarian ties were discussed.

At the same time, Valentin Makarov, president of the Russoft Association, explained that this organization brings together more than 360 companies with about 100,000 high-level scientific employees.

Makarov noted that until 2022, the conglomerate had focused on the global market, but after the start of the military operation in Ukraine in 2022, the task was to reorient itself towards the domestic market, with a strong emphasis on import substitution programs.

In this process, Russia managed to replace all Western technology to achieve full sovereignty and now wants to transfer knowledge to friendly countries such as Cuba, Makarov added.

He spoke in favor of developing joint projects with the Cuban company Aikros, in order to create a platform to provide computer products for the Latin American market. The Cuban delegation referred to the large human capital trained in the IT field, with some 4,000 computer science graduates in the last five years.

Both Russia and Cuba expressed their support for developing collaboration for the use of Artificial Intelligence, while the meeting noted the importance of Russia’s support for Cuba to facing difficulties in the automation of the national energy system, among other sectors.

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